‘Jane Austen Wrecked My Life’ Review: French Literary Rom-Com

Agathe (Camille Rutherford), the charming protagonist of Laura Piani’s pleasant romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, dreams of being a writer. A bookseller in Paris, she spends her days roaming the stacks and absorbing the words of literary greats. But like many aspiring authors shy about their talent, Agathe only scribbles in her spare time and refuses to let anyone read her work. When her best friend and colleague Felix (Pablo Pauly) discovers one of her drafts, he submits an application to a prestigious writing residency established in Austen’s name on Agathe’s behalf. Once she’s accepted, her decision to attend changes her life. 

With ample charm, Piani fashions a film that is both an ode to the 19th century literary figure and a love letter to writing. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life doesn’t reinvent the rules of the rom-com, but it does find ways to make the genre its own. Agathe is our clumsy, slightly awkward lead (of the Bridget Jones variety) whose path to self-understanding has as much to do with her creative life as it does her romantic one. Piani, who also wrote the screenplay, includes moments of the scribe at work — that is to say procrastinating, ruminating and occasionally disassociating from the terror of the blank page. These scenes ground Agathe, imbuing her with the headstrong determination of Jo March. 

In terms of the eponymous author, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life loosely models itself after Pride and Prejudice. Agathe approaches love with Elizabeth Bennet’s passion, reveling in whimsy and delighting in the unexpected. She’s also a bit stubborn and too wed to her first impressions. When Agathe arrives at the residency, she meets Oliver (Charlie Anson), a descendant of Austen, a program manager for the writers’ retreat and a kind of Mr. Darcy. Their initial encounter is soured by Oliver, who teaches literature at a university, calling his great great great great aunt’s oeuvre overrated and limited in scope. Agathe does not take kindly to this interpretation, laced as it is in a familiar kind of misogyny, and it clouds her impression of Oliver. 

Genre aficionados will know how the rest of this goes. After a drawn out introduction that takes us from Paris (where Agathe lives) to a small coastal English town (where the retreat is held), Jane Austen Wrecked My Life kicks into high gear. Piani indulges, perhaps a bit too much, in the culture of a residency. She shows spirited, philosophical debates between participants and romanticizes the process with meditative shots of writers contemplating their work in the grassy fields. These scenes sharply contrast with those of Agathe, who, unlike her peers, struggles to put pen to paper. One does wish that Piani spent more time with the central character, especially with regard to a personal grief that becomes crucial to her story.

Piani demonstrates more confidence and less preciousness when Jane Austen Wrecked My Life focuses on Agathe’s romantic life. Rutherford (Anatomy of a Fall) delights as a bumbling heroine whose experiences with love vacillate between extremely embarrassing moments and blush-inducing sweet ones. Piani opens the film by teasing a connection between Felix and Agathe, a classic story of a lothario and his best friend, but she also hints at something brewing between Oliver and Agathe. Piani doesn’t tip her hand too soon, and it’s a testament to her clever direction as well as Rutherford, Pauly and Anson’s performances that any of these combinations seems completely plausible. 

With two potential love interests and a draft of her novel due, Agathe finds herself juggling more than she bargained for. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life follows her as she wrestles with her own sense of inadequacy and tries to figure out what’s important to her. There’s a running gag that because of Agathe’s classical prose, the program directors (Oliver and his aging parents) thought that she might be older. Piani also pays special attention to the dreamy nature of the residency, using close-up shots of the ornate furniture and manicured gardens to show how this place is a world unto itself.

Working with cinematographer Pierre Mazoyer, Piani creates a look that resembles the romantic comedies of the early aughts. There’s plenty in terms of intimate close-ups, especially when our lead and her possible suitor(s) exchange longing gazes or light touches, and a fanciful score composed by Peter Von Poehl. But the true draw in Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is Agathe, a compelling protagonist whose passion for literature and love keeps us sufficiently engaged.